The Facade: Le Tuteur Clairvoyant
by Azrulai
Summary: Mainly DM/GW. Starts Gin's 5th year, mostly ignores 6th and 7th books. Ginevra Weasley and Draco Malfoy have a rare magical connection- Ginny is Draco's Tuteur Clairvoyant. But what does that mean? Rated for adult themes and abuse. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer that is going to apply to all chapters of this story, so I do not have to repost it every time:**

**You are reading this on FanFiction. Not in a pretty book. **

**So you know that it isn't original- it's all J.K. Rowling's.**

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The Facade: Chapter One

_Lucius Malfoy stormed into his son's room, but remembered to lock the door behind him with his wand. Draco sat on the bed, staring at his father and trying to fight the fear out of his tearstained eyes. _

"_How dare you…" Lucius began, seething with rage, "HOW DARE YOU refuse to do what the Dark Lord asks of you!" He slapped Draco hard across the face._

_Draco knew it was no use to fight physically, but he did have pride. "I won't help him kill innocent students," he almost whispered, "He can get someone else to do his dirty work for him." He paused a moment. "Like you." He finished, staring insolently at his father._

"_Crucio!" there was a flash of light and Draco writhed in pain on the bed as white-hot knives seared through his skin. When it was over, he had fallen to the floor and he lay there like a discarded rag doll, unable to speak as his breath came in short, ragged gasps. But he knew it wasn't over._

_Lucius sheathed his wand within the folds of his black cloak and stepped toward Draco. He used the cruciatus curse upon occasion, but Draco knew that he got some sort of sick pleasure in abusing his son with his own two hands. Now he punched him in the stomach hard, and Draco doubled over and gasped for breath for a few moments, his lungs refusing to take in air. _

_Later Draco was still curled on the floor, shifting in and out of consciousness. His cheek and arms had multiple gashes, and his thin t-shirt was torn at the sleeve. He could feel bruises forming underneath the fabric on his back where Lucius had poked him with the end of his silver-topped cane. _

_Finally, Lucius swooped down on his bleeding, barely conscious son, and twisted his arm behind his back. _

"_You will learn to listen to me, Draco, and to stay loyal to me and my master," He hissed as he pulled. Draco cried out, fighting back his hot tears as he heard a sickening crack._

------

Ginevra Weasley woke with a start, remembered her dream, and ran to the bathroom to vomit.

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**A/N: This is my first fic. Tell me what you think! I need some loyal reviewers to motivate me (-:**


	2. Chapter 2

**The first chapter was super short and I'm on vacation, so I thought I might as well write out the second one! Enjoy!**

The Façade: Chapter Two

"Ginny?" Harry poked his head around the door frame. "It's time to go. Can I take your trunk?"

"Sure, there it is. Thanks, Harry. Tell my mum I'll be down in a minute." Ginny sat on her bed and put her Hogwarts robes and some other last minute things into a small bag for the train as she watched Harry heave her trunk down the stairs. She was leaving for her fifth year at Hogwarts. Thinking of school, her thoughts went back to Draco Malfoy, the man who had been haunting her dreams for the past few weeks.

No, not _that_ kind of haunting dreams.

Ginny had been having dreams consistently every night, in which she saw Draco being frighteningly abused by his father. She wondered if they had happened in real life. Assuming they had (which sounds a little hard to believe, but she had a _feeling_), she had at first thought that he deserved it. However, as the dreams got more and more brutal, she started to feel that no 16-year-old boy could deserve that.

She had also heard things about a plan, something to do with Voldemort, that Draco was involved in. She hadn't said anything to her family or to Harry and Hermione while they were at the burrow for the summer, but she had decided to talk to Dumbledore when she got to school. Not that she cared that much for Draco- heavens no- just because Dumbledore should know in case the plan was real.

"GINEVRA WEASELY ARE YOU COMING WITH US OR NOT!"

Ginny was shaken out of her reverie by her mother's shrieks.

"Yes mum, I'm coming!" she yelled back as she grabbed her knapsack and ran down the steps.

---

Forty-Five minutes later, she found herself on the edge of a group of hugging and kissing family and friends, near where Draco Malfoy stood with his friends. Her breath caught as she noticed that his arm was in a sling and that his pale cheek bore a long pink scar.

"What—" she began to ask before she could stop herself, wanting to confirm her suspicions. _How dumb can I get?_ She thought immediately_, It's not as if he'll answer "well, because my father spent the better part of the summer physically abusing me. And how was your vacation?"_

Draco's eyes flashed for a moment, but then he sneered. "It's none of _your_ business, little weasel, and why should you care anyway?

She could feel the instinctive answer rising in her throat- _Oh, I just wanted to send whoever did that to you a nice little thank you note_- but she realized that she knew who she could thank and that the thought made her slightly sick.

"Just curious, Malfoy" She said instead, "wondered if you'd fell off your broom while trying to hone your nonexistent quidditch skills."

She turned away before he had a chance to respond and followed Harry, Hermione, and her brother onto the train.

**Also short, but it's all I've got time for at the moment. Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Special thank you to iheartdrummers for being my first reviewer (-: **

**I'm going to try to write as much of this as I can during break, because once I'm back at school it'll most likely be once-a-week updates. Enjoy Chapter Three!**

The Façade: Chapter Three

The train ride had been nice- Ginny got to catch up with Neville and Luna and they all spent the ride in a compartment with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nothing really interesting had happened, but, you know, nothing bad either. Malfoy and his cronies thankfully did not pay any visits.

Ginny curled up in her bed, stomach comfortably full of brisket and treacle tart, and pushed Draco and her imminent meeting with Dumbledore out of her mind. Lucius Malfoy was closeted up in Malfoy Manor, and Draco was safe at Hogwarts. There would be no dreams tonight.

---

It was breakfast, and Ginny was staring at her orange juice and spacing out.

"Ginny? You there?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, sorry Harry. I was just thinking. What was it that you said?"

"I'm trying to convince Hermione that Malfoy is up to something…" Ginny was paying rapt attention now, that was for sure. Harry launched into an in-depth description of a conversation he had overheard after the feast the night before.

"Oh yes Harry, I think it definitely sounds like he's up to something." Ginny saw Hermione's fuming face and added "but don't do anything stupid Harry" halfheartedly.

"I need to go to the library" she finally said.

"But Ginny, you haven't had a class yet!" said Hermione, furrowing her brow. _Jesus_, Ginny thought. "Oh, sorry- I meant that I… um… forgot my charms book in my dormitory, and I have it first period. I'd better go get it, but I'll see you guys later, okay?"

Everyone waved confusedly at her as she left.

When Ginny got to the stone gargoyle, she realized that she didn't know the password. She rapped on the door and hoped that Dumbledore could hear her. Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Ms. Weasely, looking for me perhaps?" said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling as always.

Ginny turned. "Yes, actually, professor."

"I am just returning from breakfast. I have a few moments before my first appointment, would you like to come in?" Ginny nodded and he turned to the gargoyle. "Pepper Imps"

---

"Given Mr. Malfoy's injuries and Harry's suspicions that match yours, it is quite likely that you have been having prophetic dreams, Ms. Weasely. I do believe I remember a rather prominent seer who was a Prewett a couple of generations back." Ginny had expected this answer, but was nonetheless semi-surprised- She had never been very good at divination. "Just so I can check something, do you know the date you had any of these dreams?"

"Yes- the one where Malfoy's arm was broken was the night of July 30th," Ginny replied, "I remember because Harry was at the burrow and his birthday was the next day."

Dumbledore asked Ginny to put her memories of the dreams in a vial so that he could examine them in his pensieve, told her he would call for her when he had an answer of some kind, and bid her good day. Ginny left feeling considerably better because Dumbledore did not seem overly concerned, and possibly because having been put into the pensieve, her memories of the dreams seemed blurred and a lot less important than they had before.

**Next chapter is going to be somewhat more exciting. I think (-:**

**Thank you to all whom reviewed/ put this on your story alert list! It makes me happy. Keep it up!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm addicted to this story at the moment, but don't get used to it. I really need to start writing longer chapters instead of lots of short ones… anyway, enjoy!**

The Façade: Chapter 4

"Ginny Weasley?"

"Yes?" It was right after dinner, and Ginny was sitting in the common room attempting to write out her first Charms essay of the year. She turned to see a first year with blonde pigtails and a strawberry plastic hairclip holding out a sealed piece of parchment. She read the note from Dumbledore and excused herself from the questioning looks of her friends with a quick "um… detention… I fell asleep in transfiguration today…"

---

"Sorry, professor- I wasn't expecting to be called so quickly…" Dumbledore waved his hand and Ginny trailed off.

"Not a problem, Ms. Weasley. I just thought this was a matter better tended to sooner than later."

So he had been concerned.

Dumbledore went on, "Mr. Malfoy here and I have had a little chat"-Ginny finally became aware of the presence of a certain blond slytherin- "and I have come to the conclusion that your dreams were indeed prophetic- each having happened during the twenty-four hours after you had them."

Ginny bit her lip. The logical part of her had known that everything in her dreams had actually happened, but now that she really knew for sure, and that Malfoy was sitting in front of her, arm in its sling and face turned toward his feet… it was awkward, to say the least.

"But that isn't all. This might come as a shock, Ms. Weasley, but you are Mr. Malfoy's _Clairvoyant Tuteur_."

**(A/N: If it weren't so soon after the start of the chapter, I would leave you here to go look up the French and wonder about what the hell is going on for a few days. But lucky for you guys, I've vowed to start writing longer chapters. Now back to the story)**

Malfoy gasped and then groaned. Ginny stared blankly.

"Oh, come on- you'd think you were a mudblood!" Malfoy said when he saw Ginny's face.

"Mr. Malfoy, I will not tolerate such language." Dumbledore stated calmly, "Ms. Weasley, I do not blame you in the slightest for not having access to the Malfoy family's vast collection of extremely old and rare books." Malfoy scoffed, but did not deny having read about it in his family library.

"_Clairvoyant Tuteur_ means "Guardian Seer". You have the skills of a seer, but they are honed on one particular person- Mr. Malfoy. You see, he has been put in danger often recently by the attacks from his father, and you are magically connected so that you forsee anything bad that might happen to him. It is unusual but not unheard of, and no one has yet been able to figure out why certain people have this type of connection while people who are arguably put in danger more often do not. I recognized the possibility of this quite early on in our conversation, Ms. Weasley, because I myself have done a certain amount of studying on the subject."

Ginny did not say anything for a long moment.

"So what exactly does this mean for… us?" she indicated herself and Malfoy.

"Well, you are to come to me if you have any more dreams or visions of any kind. In studies it has been found that while your dreams- during normal sleeping hours- represent events of the following 24 hours, should you start having visions during waking hours then they would indicate imminent or even present danger.

"The most drastic impact on your everyday lives, however, is that I would like you two to work together on your telepathic skills."

"Telepathy?" Malfoy interrupted, "I thought that was just muggle lore!"

"Not quite, Mr. Malfoy. It is only possible for those who already have a strong magical connection, such as yourselves. However, the ability to put thoughts into each others heads" (Ginny was reminded sickeningly of how Voldemort had manipulated Harry the previous year) "may be attainable for you two. Ms. Weasley," at this point Dumbledore leaned forward towards her and lowered his voice, "According to what he has just confessed to me, Mr. Malfoy is in considerably more danger than you ever would have guessed, and not just from his father. This puts you in a certain amount of danger as well, as his protector. This is why I am suggesting such desperate measures to take advantage of this connection- there may very well come a day when you could save Mr. Malfoy's life." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair.

"I will be in further touch with both of you. I know your relationship in the past has been less than civil, but I think you may find that you have more in common than you thought. Please try to avoid any unnecessary hostility; you are in this together. Goodnight."

Ginny and Draco left the office in silence. When they stepped out into the hallway, Draco grabbed Ginny's upper arm tightly with his good hand. Ginny was about to scream when he suddenly let go, looking down at his shoes again. He seemed almost embarrassed.

"Please…" he said weakly, as if it was difficult to bring himself to say it, "Don't say anything…"

"I won't, Malfoy." Ginny replied softly.

"Call- Call me Draco" He said, and Ginny could see unshed tears in his eyes as they finally met hers. "It seems as though we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Yeah. You aren't that bad, Malfoy. I saw what you said to your father."

It was weird for him to think that she had literally _seen_ what had happened. "Yeah, I guess I'm not that bad. It's all a façade, isn't it… isn't everything, though?"

Draco looked away, and they parted to walk back to their dormitories.

Ginny walked like a zombie to hers, thinking _Why me? Why me?_

---

Ginny crept through the portrait hole as quietly as she could, but Harry heard her. When she stepped into the common room, he was standing next to his chair by the fire.

"What's going on, Ginny?" he asked quietly.

Ginny collapsed into his arms and began crying silently into his shoulder.

**A/N: ooooohhh lala… Yes, I'm sticking in some Ginny/Harry, perhaps. But don't worry all you DG fans, it will be brief and you can see that Draco and Ginny are already warming to each other (not to mention that they're kind of stuck together). I hope that chapter was more satisfying than the first three… It was more satisfying to write. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	5. Chapter 5

**Jesus, I'm going to end up spending my whole break writing this when I'm really supposed to be writing a paper on Stalin and how he butchered the Marxist ideas of Communism.**

The Façade: Chapter 5

Harry held Ginny on his broomstick and flew slowly up to the girls dormitories to avoid sliding down the booby-trapped staircase.

Ginny had sobbed for a good five minutes before calming down enough to tell him what was going on, at which point she had gushed the whole story in practically one breath and then made him promise not to tell anyone. He had comforted her like a good friend should, until she had fallen asleep with her head on his lap.

He tucked her in, being careful not to wake her dorm mates, and kissed her forehead before pulling the velvet hangings closed around her sleeping form.

Harry was only just beginning to realize how much he loved her, and not just in a brotherly way either. Well, in the sense that he wanted to beat up Malfoy for her in advance- yeah, he knew for sure that Ron would've felt the same way. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that Ginny was his best friend's little sister and that that was all, he knew he was only trying to trick his heart. He was in too deep, and he knew it. He was the fucking chosen one, and he couldn't have a girlfriend- not to mention that she had long since moved on from when she had liked him as more than a friend.

Damnit, he had to talk to her. He couldn't stand it anymore.

---

Harry cornered Malfoy after potions the next day. He knew that his first Telepathy lesson with Ginny was that night. Some _brotherly_ eavesdropping on her note from Dumbledore.

"You hurt her in any way, Malfoy, and I will personally Avada you." He hissed in his ear as he passed. Malfoy looked startled, and then rolled his eyes slightly when he saw who it was. But Harry was shocked. No asinine comment, no "Aww… weaslette's got an admirer" or "You'd think she's got enough older brothers…" or even "I could kick your ass in a duel any day". Nothing. Malfoy certainly wasn't any more ready to accept Harry's friendship than Harry was to accept his, but perhaps Ginny was right. He was different this year.

---

Ginny took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. She realized that Ma- Draco was most likely thinking the same thing as she was (something along the lines of _this is absolutely ridiculous_) and wondered whether she would be able to tell the difference if he did manage to push his thoughts into her mind.

She was getting so frustrated that she actually voiced this aloud.

"I agree, professor" Draco said.

Dumbledore seemed to ponder the idea. "That is possible, although I do believe you would be able to feel the difference. Just in case…"

Five minutes later, Ginny was desperately trying to make Draco think about lemon drops. He was attempting to force her into thinking about Fizzing Whizbees, although, of course, she didn't know that.

Twenty minutes later, they were dismissed. Not that they had made any progress- from what they could tell, it was completely pointless. But this time they talked as they walked towards the end of the hall, where they had to split up. They mentioned the various painful essays they had to complete and laughed over the waste of time that were their telepathy lessons, and it wasn't until they were walking down separate hallways when Ginny realized that she had just had a perfectly civilized conversation with Draco Malfoy.

---

Harry was waiting for her alone in the common room again. After they had established that Malfoy had done nothing to physically or verbally abuse Ginny and had actually been quite nice, she described her lesson to Harry.

"Sounds just like my Occlumency lessons last year," He said, "at least you've got Dumbledore and not Snape."

Ginny laughed. "Thank Merlin!"

"Ginny?" Harry said finally, "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Sure Harry, anything," Ginny said, smiling.

"I was thinking that maybe… this is so hard to say, and I shouldn't say it anyway… but maybe we could be more than friends? I really like you Ginny." His cheeks were burning as red as Ginny's hair- he could feel them.

Ginny's face fell. "Oh, Harry… you know I wanted that once… but I was so young then. I think that deep down inside, I might still love you a little, Harry- but it's so far away now. Right now, I just can't do that. Someday, maybe. But don't wait for me."

Harry tried to smile. "Then this won't change anything between us, will it? I was so worried that you'd say no and that it would ruin our friendship…"

"No! Harry, don't worry. I'll always be your friend." Ginny crawled into his lap and pressed her face into his chest. "I'll always be here for you if you're here for me."

**A/N: Wished it could be longer, but this was just the natural point at which to end it. Next chapter in a couple days, or, you know, tomorrow, because I'm a fanfic-a-holic.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to my lovely reviewers for motivating me to write this! Its so exciting that people actually want to read this (-:**

**So without further ado, I present:**

The Façade: Chapter 6

Harry sighed. "Ginny, you're going to have to tell the others sometime. Besides, Hermione might be able to help."

Ginny and Draco had now progressed to unsupervised Telepathy practice sessions (not having the skill himself, Dumbledore was not much of a help anyway), and had been making some progress. Malfoy had successfully made Ginny think about pumpkin juice, but she wasn't really sure if she had just been thirsty. Both of them had (separately) been looking for any information they could get in the library, and Dumbledore had granted them access to the restricted section for their research. That was where Harry was with Ginny at the moment, back-to-back on the floor as they leafed through dictionary-sized tomes.

"I know," Ginny replied, "Dumbledore owled my mum and dad, and they're bound to tell Ron sometime anyway, at which point everyone will know. But Dumbledore stressed that the less people know, the better. If this gets to Voldemort…" she trailed off. Ginny still didn't know anything about the plan, but she had gathered that Voldemort had commanded Draco through Lucius to do it, and that he had refused because it put the students of Hogwarts in danger. Lucius had told Voldemort that he would make him do it, and Draco was currently under extreme pressure from his father.

"I'm not suggesting that you run and yell it to the world, Gin. I just think you should tell Ron, as he's your brother and is going to find out anyway sooner or later, and Hermione because she can help. And you know you can trust them. They wouldn't give me up if they were being crucioed, and they wouldn't give you up either." He whispered the last sentence.

Ginny grimaced and put her head in Harry's lap again. He understood her more than anyone else could, because he had been more or less where she was now for the last six years. "I just want to be normal, Harry."

"I know, Gin. I know."

---

Ginny's soft eyes looked into Draco's concentrated silver ones. He was trying with all his might to force a thought into her mind, while she attempted to clear it and be more receptive to his message. Their thinking was that A) It would be harder to force thoughts upon the other person if they were concentrating really hard on doing the same thing to you, and B) That Ginny, as the guardian, would be able to pick up on Malfoy's thoughts more easily than he could pick up on hers.

Malfoy was trying to think about something random and not how pretty Ginny's hair was, flowing in soft waves down to her waist. _Jesus, where did that come from?_ He regained his concentration.

"Peppermint Humbugs!" Ginny yelled out suddenly.

"That's it! Merlin, Ginny, we did it!" Ginny ran towards Draco and they met in an ecstatic hug, laughing hysterically. Of course, they soon realized what they were doing and abruptly let go of each other, grinning sheepishly. After four weeks of daily sessions, so many hours of hard work, they had done it.

---

Malfoy caught sight of Ginny outside by the lake after the sixth years finished Herbology. He began walking over.

Ginny was leaning on a large boulder as her scarf whipped around her in the cool November breeze and looking down into the depths of the lake, thinking. Thinking about… _how Draco Malfoy is the hottest guy in the whole damn world_. What the fuck? Just then, she felt hot breath on her neck and jumped.

"Malfoy, that was you!"

Draco laughed. "Draco, hon- didn't we agree on that?"

"When you piss me off I'll call you Malfoy. You're only Draco when you're being nice."

"Fine. Don't I get a little congratulation for that, though? I wasn't even looking you in the eye!"

"We actually have no solid proof that eye contact eye helps, and if this is going to be at all useful we're really going to have to learn to do it without it."

"Anyway. We need to see Dumbledore during lunch today. He asked us to update him regularly, and I'm pretty sure this warrants an update."

"True. Meet you outside his office at quarter to one?"

Draco was about to respond when a yell cut into their conversation.

"Get the fuck away from my baby sister, Malfoy! What the hell do you think you're doing--?" Harry was holding Ron by the back of his robes and trying to calm him down.

"I'm not _doing_ anything to her, weasel! We can have a civilized conversation, you know!" Malfoy snapped.

"Gin, I think it's time to tell him!" Harry yelled over Ron's incoherent and somewhat profane response. Ginny nodded reluctantly, and he began to drag Ron away.

---

"She's WHAT?"

"Oh, Harry, why didn't you tell me earlier?! I need to get to the library…"

Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione, Ginny and I have been reading up for weeks- and Malfoy too. You probably aren't going to find anything new, and at the very least it won't hurt you wait till tomorrow. Ron, you need to calm down. I know it's difficult- Ginny is practically my sister as well. But she's a big girl, and she has Dumbledore's protection. And I'm not ready to go make friends with Malfoy either, but I believe Ginny when she tells me that he isn't who we thought he was. If I give him a chance, you should too."

---

"That is wonderful news indeed, Ms. Weasley. I would like you to try to send messages to Mr. Malfoy as well- two-way communication, if possible, would be optimal. I am also glad to see that you are getting along rather better than you had been. Mr. Malfoy, please stay behind for a few moments- I have decided that we are better off if you act as though you are following Voldemort's plan. Ms. Weasley, you are free to go."

By the time Ginny made it to the common room, Ron and Hermione had been significantly calmed by Harry. They did ask a lot of questions, which Ginny readily answered with Harry's help. She did not, however, detail what she had seen in her dreams, out of a loyalty to Draco that she was somewhat surprised to find within her.

**Good/ Bad/ Fugly? You tell me. I liked some of this chapter, but not all of it. It wasn't my favorite. Go press that little button down there and REVIEW!**

**p.s. I have most of Chapter 7 written already, so it will be up later today or tomorrow (if I can get my stupid internet working properly for 5 minutes…) **


	7. Chapter 7

**This has taken me forever to upload because of my internet and fanfiction glitches, but there you go.**

**LONG, IMPORTANT A/N TODAY:**

**I thought it was obvious, but I just got a review from someone who was confused about what Voldemort wants Draco to do. I took that from the actual sixth book (he wants him to find a way for the Deatheaters to get into Hogwarts and to kill Dumbledore), however, his response to the request is obviously very different than it is in the actual book. **

**Also, while we're on the topic, Voldemort ****will**** be killed during the story (not entirely sure if I'll fast forward or write the actual scene- I'm no good at action scenes), but it will remain the reader's decision whether Harry has been doing the whole Horcrux thing with Dumbledore this whole time, or if it's more a matter of just, you know- killing Voldy.**

**I think perhaps Harry would've told Ginny if the Horcrux stuff had been going on, given the close relationship they have in this story, but maybe he's getting defense lessons or something (something more like what Hermione was expecting when Harry first told her about the classes in the actual book). **

**Anyway, that was a long note. On to the story:**

The Façade: Chapter 7

Draco stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas (to "continue work on the project") to stay safe from his father. The Weasleys, as usual, invited Harry and Hermione to stay with them at the burrow, but Hermione went on vacation with her parents.

It was Christmas Eve. Draco found himself _bored_ without his practices with Ginny to look forward to. He tried to send her messages at the burrow, but never succeeded. He knew he wouldn't, really- at this point Ginny was capable of sending him reply messages, but they had yet to try it through walls and longer distances. He didn't want to send her an owl, because then he couldn't do it under the guise of practicing telepathy.

Draco had really woken up this year. Perhaps it was the shock of being asked (well, commanded more or less) to help the Dark Lord, but he had realized that he didn't want to spend his life killing innocent people, and he really just kind of wanted it all to be over. There, it's been said. Draco Malfoy wanted Voldemort to be defeated.

Besides, Draco was sick of being ordered around. He didn't want to be the evil guy that everyone hates, like his father pushed him to be (like he had been for the past six years, but whatever). He didn't want to go do dangerous things for the Dark Lord's benefit, when even the Dark Lord didn't honestly think he'd succeed.

Draco Malfoy ordered himself around.

Now that he had come to this realization, he couldn't stand to be around his so-called "friends" anymore. He snapped at them whenever they came near him, and he'd even taken to sleeping on the common room couch when it got too stifling. He was pretty much an unofficial outcast, yeah.

And the worst part of it was, he couldn't make new friends either. Everyone hated him from his Jr. Deatheater days, not to mention the inquisitorial squad the year before. And so Draco Malfoy was completely, totally alone.

Well, not totally. He had Ginny. Of course, she only "hung out" with him because she had no choice, but he was getting the feeling that she might actually enjoy their conversations. Of course, now she was enjoying Christmas with her normal, nice family (not that he hadn't made fun of it a thousand times, but he realized now that for him to make fun of it was pretty hypocritical) and he was getting ready to go downstairs and watch Dumbledore pull stupid hats out of crackers. Hm. Maybe he'd go down to the kitchens and eat alone.

Just then, a head with messy, jet-black hair appeared in the fireplace with its eyes closed.

"Is everyone dressed?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Potter, and it's only me." Draco replied.

Harry opened his eyes. "Well, as much as it pains me to do this, I am acting as Ginny's messenger to the boy's dormitories. Do you want to join us for Christmas?"

"And why," snapped Draco instinctively, "would I want to do that?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked around the empty dormitory. "Oh, I don't know," he said, "but we have Dumbledore's permission. The flues are only open for the next twenty minutes." He vanished.

Draco sulked for fifteen minutes before stepping into the fireplace.

---

Christmas at the Weasleys' was always chaotic. When Draco arrived, everything paused. There was an extremely awkward silence. Finally, Ginny stepped toward him and tugged him by the hand into the kitchen.

_Don't worry_, she told him silently, _They'll get used to it. It's just a shock, after so many years._

_I was trying to send you messages from Hogwarts, but it wouldn't work._

_Of course it wouldn't, we still can't do it through a __wall__, dumbass._

Draco was about to reply when Harry interrupted. "That's really creepy." He said. For a moment, the Weasleys looked confused, and then it dawned on them what was going on.

"Jesus." Fred said simply.

George picked up his slack. "Honestly, guys- please don't do that much while you're here."

The shock of their nonverbal communication seemed to have taken some of the edge of Draco's arrival. Mrs. Weasley put him to work de-gnoming with Harry, Ron, and the twins. "They dig up all the seeds and bulbs, and then my tulips don't grow back in the spring," She explained.

As the wind messed up his carefully slicked back hair and his fingertips froze in the cold, Draco was tempted to say something about how this was servants work. He stopped himself. That was the old Draco talking. He was going to be nice and not spoiled. At least he was pretty sure the Weasleys didn't beat their children, he thought wryly. His arm was healed by then, but he still favored the other one while hurling gnomes.

Ron was giving him venomous looks. Finally, Draco sighed and walked up to him.

"Look, Ron. I didn't invite myself over. I'm not going to plead my case or beg for forgiveness from you, but Ginny and I are _friends_ now. Deal with it."

Ron didn't hear a word he said after the first two. _Malfoy had just called him by his given name_. He nodded slightly, and Draco turned and walked to the other side of the garden.

---

It wasn't all that difficult to win over the rest of the Weasleys. Draco just stayed quiet and watched his step, and soon enough it seemed like if he wasn't one of them, at least he wasn't a leper in their midst. Mrs. Weasley made him a green and silver knit sweater ("I'm afraid the dragon didn't come out so well, dear- I'm not used to having a slytherin for Christmas!" she said apologetically). It felt odd to say it, but Draco _liked_ Christmas at the Weasleys'. There was always something going on, and everyone seemed really happy. Not like the quiet, pained Christmas dinners he remembered from home (a long, lonely table with his parents at either end, a Christmas-catalog-tree with only silver ribbons and clear glass orbs).

And Ginny was there. She led him through it all like a guide dog to a blind person. She sent him messages telling him what he should do, how he should try to fit in. She sent him encouraging words all through Christmas dinner. They had some fun with it as well- Harry was the only one who noticed (again) when Draco passed Ginny the potatoes and the salt without being verbally asked to do so.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Draco, and the twins had a 3-on-3 quidditch game in the yard- essentially one keeper and two chasers per team, since they couldn't use the flying balls anyway. Draco and the twins beat Harry, Ron, and Ginny pretty badly, but that was mostly because Harry and Ginny were both seekers and were rather out of their element. It was certainly a bonding experience for Draco and Fred and George, being on a team together. They were nice guys.

When it came time to go back to Hogwarts, Draco was actually depressed. Back to being the outcast, alone on the couch in the common room. Fun.

He hadn't counted on Harry, Ron, and Hermione trying to include him as their friend. Obviously, Ginny put them up to it, but still. Hermione seemed most reluctant, but after he apologized to her for what he had said in the past (also on Ginny's request) she warmed towards him.

The first time he entered the Gryffindor common room, it was pretty historic. He had once been the prince of Slytherin, after all. The reaction had not been unlike the one in the Weasleys' kitchen over the holidays. Eventually, though, the Gryffindors got used to his presence and generally ignored him. He spent most of his free time in there now, practicing with Ginny and playing chess with Ron. They sometimes pissed each other off, but they tried not to let the arguments get out of hand.

Draco, of course, kept this a secret from many of the Slytherins. It wouldn't do for his father to find out, after all.

---

If someone who didn't know what was going on walked in, this would look really weird.

Ginny was sitting with her back to the wall, alone in an empty classroom. Draco was sitting in the same fashion, in the classroom next door. Occasionally, one of them would run into the other's room to yell victory.

After a while, they were able to reliably send messages to each other through the wall and even from different parts of the castle. They began "practicing" each night as they fell asleep.

_Are you awake?_

_Yeah. On the couch in the common room again._

_I told you Slytherins are nasty._

_Hey. I'm still a Slytherin._

_You're practically a Gryffindor now. _Ginny giggled to herself.

_Jeez, I have some pride you know._

Ginny laughed again._ What changed you, Draco? Really._

_I think it was being asked to do this stupid project. My father volunteered me for it, you know- to gain back the Dark Lord's favor. I don't want to be ordered around, and I don't want to kill innocent people._

_So… what is the plan exactly?_

_You know I can't say anything more. Dumbledore's orders. But the point is, I never really shared my father's views. You know, pure blood and all that._

_I find that hard to believe._

_No, really. It's just that I was young then. I thought that the right thing to do was to be my father's puppet and force myself to believe the same things he did. I wanted him to be proud of me._

_Because he hurts you when he isn't proud of you._

_No, he didn't before. Only this summer. But maybe that's because I always did what he wanted before this summer. _

_He's a monster. I still can't really believe what I saw._

_He's misguided._

_I'm not going to reply to that._

They had these conversations almost every night. Ginny told Draco about life with the Weasley clan, and he told her about his cold childhood. They had long, philosophical arguments about God, and good and evil. They had lighthearted, getting-to-know-each other conversations about nothing in particular. It was easier to talk when they weren't face-to-face. Ginny didn't know it, but Draco looked forward to them every day.

_Ginny?_

_Yeah?_

_Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?_

_Line, as a _date

_As whatever you want it to be._

Ginny hesitated. _Can it be just as friends?_

Draco sighed to himself._ Sure. Just friends. _

_Goodnight, Draco._

_Night, Gin._

**Yay, how cute was that? They're really coming along nicely. And they're **_**really**_** good at the telepathy thing. Maybe I rushed it a bit, but I've had the late-night conversations planned out since the conception of this story, so I was excited. A lot happened in this chapter. Vacation is half over, so I wanted to give you guys a good long one in case things start to slow down. REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes, there is something I should be doing instead of constantly writing and updating this FanFic. But lucky for you guys, Stalin is boring. **

**By the way, my computer has a virus and needs to be completely reloaded (gag), which is going to happen sometime between now and middle of next week, and may delay my updates. I'll try to keep it up though.**

The Façade: Chapter 8

Draco wondered when Ginny was going to notice. They were walking the streets in Hogsmeade, hand in hand, and their fellow students were staring at them in disbelief as they walked by.

Not that this was Draco's fault. _Ginny_ had grabbed _his_ hand while trying to vigorously prove a point in their conversation, and he had just… never let go.

Draco wondered why he had never noticed Ginny while he had been under Lucius' mind control (A/N: just so there's no confusion- he wasn't imperiused, it's a figure of speech). She was everything he could look for in a woman. She was beautiful, that was for sure- petite, perfect figure, big, laughing eyes, and of course that glowing waist-length red hair. But she was also smart, clever, funny, a real live wire. He could talk to her for hours and never get bored.

Ginny noticed. She let go of his hand abruptly and looked up at him.

"Sorry." Draco said. Ginny seemed to ponder this for a second. She finally smiled devilishly and placed her arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder. They continued towards the Three Broomsticks.

---

Draco stood in a small window nook, shadowed near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. He leaned down toward Ginny, pausing with his lips less then an inch from hers. She closed the distance between them, bringing his head toward hers with both hands entwined in his platinum hair. She was glad he'd stopped slicking it back with gel. It was sexy how it fell into his eyes.

He held her with both hands on the small of her back. He could feel the ends of her hair brushing his fingers like feathers.

Then just as quickly as it had began, it ended. Ginny broke away and looked into Draco's silver eyes. Finally, he spoke.

"Can we maybe redefine what today was?" he asked, grinning.

"No way," said Ginny, "because if we don't, then you still have to ask me out."

She was through the portrait hole before he could reply.

As she made her way up to her dormitory, she heard a little voice in her head.

_Gin, will you be my girlfriend?_

_Let me think about it. Yes._

Draco smiled the whole way back to the dungeons.

---

Draco skidded into the mud, unable to stop his broomstick in time. Harry managed to grab the snitch, but he too ended up in the mud, laughing hysterically.

As Harry was trying to collect himself, Draco got up quickly and playfully threw a fistful of mud in his face before kicking off.

"Let the snitch go, Potter!" he yelled from the air as Harry pointed his wand at his face and cleaned off his glasses.

"I'm not letting you get any head starts, Malfoy!"

Ginny watched this from the stands, giggling to herself. If someone had told her a year ago… well, you know. Besides, a lot had happened between last spring and this one.

Harry and Draco still called each other by their surnames, but they no longer spat them into the other's face like a profane word. They loved to beat one another, but their competition in quidditch (and often, wit) was friendly and not at all like the bitter exchange of hexes that had made up most of their interaction during the years before. Ron was still not quite so comfortable around Draco, but Draco and Harry obviously had a great deal in common when it came down to it.

"I did invite you to be my friend in first year." Draco would remind him.

"Yes," Harry would reply, "but you were an insufferable asshole back then and I wouldn't have been able to stand you anyway."

Ironically, Harry did not seem nearly as bitter about Draco dating the girl he liked as Ron was about Draco dating his little sister. That was what Ginny liked about Harry- when she said no, he had settled comfortably into the position of her best friend and said no more about it. It may sound impossible, but it really hadn't been uncomfortable between them at all after a few days.

Of course, she was smart enough not to mention her relationship with Draco during their heart-to-hearts.

Draco. Well. She had continued to visit Hogsmeade with him- sometimes they even had butterbeers together with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She now spent much of her free time with him (the rest of it with Harry, of course), and she spent the time that wasn't supposed to be free (i.e. during Charms) talking to him telepathically.

They were fairly sure that distance didn't matter at this point (considering that they could now communicate easily while Ginny was at Herbology and Draco was at the top of the Astronomy Tower), and Dumbledore had tried all sorts of barrier charms, but none had impaired their ability. It was pretty foolproof.

Dating Draco was nice. He liked to leave Ginny little presents in her dormitory (delivered by elf express, of course). She often found chocolates on her pillow when she went to bed at night, and she once found a bottle of Annick Goutal ce soir ou jamais Eau de Toilette with a note saying that it was Draco's favorite muggle perfume (A/N: What a coincidence- mine too!). She laughed out loud at this. Draco Malfoy had a favorite _muggle_ perfume? Who knew! Incidentally, she loved it and wore it every day. Ginny was sure that Draco's gentlemanliness was the one good side effect of his pretentious high-class upbringing.

---

Exams came.

The year was almost over. Draco had told his father that he wasn't yet done with the project, and Lucius had been punished by Voldemort on his behalf. Now, Dumbledore had to figure out how to keep Lucius from punishing Draco (in other words, how to keep Draco away from him for the summer without him suspecting anything).

Lucius, of course, approved of Draco spending his summer alone to work on the project. It was decided that Draco would spend the summer at Grimmauld Place with the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and some order members. The only problem, of course, was where to tell Lucius he was.

Professor Snape had always been more of a father to Draco than his real father. He told Lucius that he would assist Draco over the summer and let him stay in his own house.

Lucius picked up Draco at King's Cross at the end of the term. Hogwarts students and parents saw him take Draco back to Malfoy Manor, like he did every summer. Practically before Lucius had time to speak to his son, Snape arrived and took him to Grimmauld Place. Lucius thought they had gone to Severus' home. He was told not to try to contact him, for fear of revealing his location to the Order of the Phoenix and leading them to suspect something. Problem solved.

---

The older Weasley brothers were rather unprepared for the shock of their baby sister going out with Draco Malfoy (while living under the same roof, no less), but Ginny's parents had known, of course.

Ron had owled them first thing when he found out, hoping that they'd forbid it. Having already met the new Draco at Christmas, they didn't. Instead, Ginny got a nice note from her mum with the incantation for a contraceptive charm and hopes that she wouldn't be needing it. Ginny already knew it anyway- she had looked it up while she was dating Dean. She had almost lost her virginity to him, but somewhere between when her shirt came off and his hands started creeping under the waistband of her panties she discovered that she didn't love him and really didn't want to do this. They broke up shortly afterward.

As for her and Draco- well, they'd only been going out for a short time, and so far had only shared some rather chaste kisses. That whole thing about Slytherins' notches on the bedpost was a total rumor… or maybe that was just in Draco's case.

---

**A/N: I decided to end it there and leave the summer for the next chapter. You guys can finally get ready for the real reason this Fic is rated M, I believe. (eh, that child abuse was nothing) REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Funny thing- I was looking for some good Draco/Ginny stories to read and I came across "Not the Same" by Herascat. It also features an abusive Lucius, a not-evil Draco, and a prophetic Ginny who must help him with her gift. Kudos to the author- great minds think alike! (-:**

**Anyway, Ta-Da! Chapter 9 has arrived. This chapter (and the following one) used to be a bit smuttier, but I had a sort of epiphany- I don't need to copy other people's stupid sex scenes to make my fanfiction good!**

The Façade: Chapter 9

Ginny had been waiting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place for almost an hour, grasping Draco's hand tightly in nervousness, when Harry finally arrived with half the order in tow. They all seemed quite breathless, but had avoided a full-on battle with the Deatheaters.

Ginny jumped out of her chair and flung her arms around Harry's neck, shaking with relief.

"Relax, Gin, everyone's fine. I'm fine." He smiled at Draco, still sitting at the table behind Ginny, as he held her. Draco smiled back. He would never admit it, but he was somewhat relieved as well. With Harry's permission, Ginny had told him about the prophecy. He respected that Potter was the only chance for Voldemort's defeat.

--

A few weeks later, everyone was at the burrow.

They hated being at Grimmauld Place- It was dark, gloomy, and it reminded them all of Sirius (well, not Draco. But he didn't love it either). Harry hated it most, especially the idea that it belonged to him. There were doubts about the safety of moving them, but order members went first and set up protective charms. They got everyone safely inside, and now they could go outside in the garden and everyone was generally in a much better mood.

The day they arrived, Ginny and Draco went for a walk outside. When they were safely out of sight from the house, Draco grabbed Ginny and held her tightly to him, kissing her more passionately then he ever had before. Ginny moaned into his mouth as he ran his tongue over her lower lip. She ran her hands over his back, feeling his muscles through his thin summer shirt.

She could taste a lust in his kiss that she couldn't before. It was no longer sweet and soft like inexperienced children's- It was wild and hard, like lovers in the movies when they've been apart for years.

That was what it was like for them- at Grimmauld Place, they hadn't been given a moment of privacy. There was no way to get out of the house, and even when Draco kissed Ginny goodnight there had invariably been someone watching, and so it was more of a quick peck than a real kiss. They missed each other. At least nobody could listen in on their conversations.

Ginny pulled away. "Someone is going to walk in on us," she stated breathlessly. Draco wordlessly pulled her towards the broom shed.

He backed her up against the wall, her hands knotting in his blond locks. He pulled her thin black camisole over her head and then brought his head lower to kiss and lick his way down her neck. He grinned as he reached her lacy, unpadded bra- _Slytherin green. Looks nice with your hair. Much better than scarlet._ She giggled.

--

The two of them walked back to the house hand in hand, after having composed themselves and tried their best to cover up any evidence of what they had been doing.

_This is going to be a nice summer, Draco._

_I think so too._

**(-: REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: In real HP, Draco's birthday is June 5th, which was about two months ago in my story. However, in real HP Ginny would never give good-for-nothing, evil, Deatheater Draco Malfoy the time of day. If that can be changed, so can Draco's birthday. Same season anyway, right?**

The Façade: Chapter 10

It was Draco's birthday. He hadn't told any of the others, because it would just be awkward. They might not hate him anymore, but it would be naïve to expect cake or presents or any other normal birthday things from them. They still felt like somebody else's friends, a group he wasn't quite part of.

But Ginny knew. It was a secret, but she had some very special birthday gifts for him. The first was waiting downstairs at this very moment.

_Draco, where are you?_

_In the garden._

_I thought you were upstairs. What are you doing out there? _

_Just thinking. I'll come inside to be with you though._

_No! I mean- wait a minute, I'll be right there._

"There you are, Draco. Telepathy is so convenient. What would we do without it? Anyway, dinner's ready. Come inside."

--

"Surprise!!" "Happy Birthday!" "Why didn't you tell us?"

The room was hung with gold and silver streamers, and blue sparkles seemed to dance in the air near the ceiling. Mrs. Weasley was carrying in a spectacular green dragon-shaped cake (not knowing very much about what Draco liked, she had decided to stick to dragon and Slytherin motifs), and a small pile of presents sat at the head of the table.

"That top one's from your father, dear," Molly pointed, "he sent it care of Severus this morning."

"Uch, Malfoy family watch," he said in a disgusted sort of way, "I'll have to send it back care of Severus. Is that how you found out?"

"Oh no- we couldn't have gotten all this done in one afternoon! Ginny told us."

"Thank you so much Mrs. Weasley, I never thought…" he turned towards Ginny "Gin? I didn't—"

"Oh, never mind. Anyway, you really have to thank Harry, he organized most of it." Draco looked astonished.

"Trust me, Malfoy, I know what a crappy birthday feels like." Harry grinned.

--

Draco pondered the events of the evening.

The cake was delicious. The only cakes he remembered ever having on his birthday were like wedding cake- beautiful, delicate, vanilla, and absolutely disgusting. Mrs. Weasley's showed her lack of artistic skill and piping bags, but it was rich and chocolaty with lots of frosting and 200 calories in every bite, just the way birthday cake should be.

He remembered his birthday presents from his parents- counting backwards for the last few years included the Malfoy family ring (and he'd be damned if he'd ever wear it), wizard's aftershave and cologne, velvet dress robes, and an assortment of other very not-fun things. This year's included a Broomsick Servicing Kit from Harry (wonder where he got that idea), a funny potions book called _Useful Potions for the Teenage Wizard_ from Hermione (who was only one spot above him in class, cough), and a box of hilarious Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes merchandise from Fred and George.

_Hey Gin, you didn't get your boyfriend anything for his birthday!_

_Don't be so quick to accuse, Malfoy. You'll get it later._

"This is honestly the best birthday of my life." Draco said as he sat in the sitting room and learned how to play muggle poker from Harry (Mr. Weasley was thrilled). Mrs. Weasley smiled proudly.

_If you had told me a year ago…_

_I know, Draco. I know._

--

Once she was sure Hermione was asleep, Ginny got up from bed and began to creep out of the room.

Unfortunately, Hermione was a light sleeper.

"Ginny?"

"Uh… I'm just getting a drink of water, you can go back to sleep."

"Jesus, Gin, I'm 'the cleverest witch in my year.' I know where you're going. You do know the charm, right? And don't forget to lock it and silence it."

Ginny grinned. "Thanks, Hermione."

"Don't mention it. Really, don't. And get out of here before I think about it too much and change my mind."

A minute later, Ginny was outside Draco's door. He was sharing with the twins for the summer, but Ginny had _made sure_ that they were staying at the shop for the night.

_Draco, are you still awake?_

No answer.

_DRACO!_

_Ginny? I was having a very good dream. It had you in it. Whats up?_

_I'm here to make your dreams come true. _Ginny couldn't help but giggle as she crept inside the room and closed the door behind her. When she was sure it was locked and thoroughly silenced, she walked towards Draco and muttered the charm before snuggling under the covers with him. He recognized it.

"Ginny, you—"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure. Now kiss me already."

He complied.

--

Afterwards, Ginny nestled her head comfortably into the curve of Draco's neck. She had one last birthday present for him.

_I love you, Draco._

_I love you too, Gin._

**You know what I'm going to say… REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alot of action in this chapter, and I don't mean sex. Enjoy! **

The Façade: Chapter 11

Ginny woke up feeling very content. Draco was spooning her from behind, his strong arms encircling her waist and his breath in her ear. Then she heard distant voices.

"Bill, honey, welcome home. Hello Fleur, dear. Yes, go upstairs and wake the children. Draco is in the twins' room."

She panicked. "Draco! Wake up!" She pulled his arms off her and ran to slip on her nightie. "Jesus, Draco, do you know any charms that will cover these up?" she gestured towards the very prominent hickeys on her neck. She could hear footsteps on the stairs. Draco drowsily pointed his wand at her and muttered the incantation. She almost made it, slipping out ever so quietly into the hallway, but Bill was just closing Ron's door and he saw her from down the hall.

"Don't say anything to mum, please?"

"I wouldn't, you know that. But Gin… uch, you're my baby sister!"

Ginny didn't bother to deny what she had been doing. She just kissed Bill on the cheek, said "Thanks, big brother", and gave him a winning smile as she sauntered over to the bathroom.

---

Ginny was feeling very at peace as she walked towards Hogsmeade to meet Draco. She had forced herself to stay and finish her essay for Snape before coming out to meet him, and now that she had done it she could relax and enjoy the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her wrist tightly. Before she could scream, she felt a tug behind her navel and she was lifted off the ground and into nothingness.

_Draco! Draco, HELP!_

_Ginny! What's happening? Where are you?_

_They've captured me! Your father's cronies, Deatheaters… I think I'm at your house._

_Do they know?_

_They know about our relationship, and they obviously know that you haven't really been working for them. They don't know about the telepathy, or the visions. Draco, it's a trap. Whatever you do, don't come here. They're using me to get to you. __I can't send messages anymore. It's using up my strength, such a far distance… They're going to notice if I don't stop._

_Ginny, I'm going to help you. I'm getting Dumbledore. Don't tell them anything._

Draco apparated to the front gates and ran up to the castle. It felt like seconds before he was in front of Dumbledore's door. He said the password breathlessly and ran up the staircase.

Dumbledore was never there when you needed him.

---

An owl was following him.

Draco was running back to the front gates to apparate. He barely noticed the inconspicuous barn owl flying behind him. Then it swooped down and perched on his shoulder, digging claws into his back.

The short letter was in Ginny's handwriting, but shaky and frightened looking.

**Draco,**

**They know. They've captured me.**

**I'm at Malfoy Manor. Please, Draco, help!**

**Ginny**

Bullshit. They made Ginny write that, he knew it. She had already told him telepathically, which is a much easier mode of communication when you're being held prisoner.

He felt himself gag slightly, burning tears starting to come down his face. Dumbledore had said that one day _his _life might be in danger; that Ginny might have to save _him_. But he had hoped that she would never need him like this, even though he had known in the back of his mind that it was possible.

He searched Hogsmeade for the teachers, but none were to be found. Finally, he decided out of desperation that that the stupidest thing he could possibly do was the only thing to do. He apparated to his house.

_Ginny, I'm coming._

_I can feel you nearby. You aren't in Hogsmeade anymore. Don't Draco- please! Get someone else! This is exactly what they want!_

Draco barely heard her. She was still conscious and sane. That's what mattered.

Ginny felt herself being pulled into a waking vision. It was just a glimpse, a flash of Draco in pain, writhing on the stone floor of the room she was in now. She called for him more urgently.

_Draco, please! They're going to get you too! Please don't!_

It didn't occur to Draco that she had seen this- he thought she was just worrying about what could happen. He crept up to the window hidden within the bushes, through which he could see the dungeons. He knew they would be there.

His blood boiled as he saw the scene inside.

"We will keep torturing you until we've successfully lured my son out of Hogwarts. However, tell us something we want to know, and it could be easier for you. The more you talk, the less you're crucioed." Lucius laughed.

Ginny's arms and legs were strapped tightly to the stone wall behind her, so that each time the curse was thrown at her the pain was increased by the leather bands cutting into her skin as she writhed against them. By now, her wrists and ankles were bleeding in bands, red liquid dripping into her socks. She had multiple gashes on her face where it had been hit by a leather whip, and she didn't look as though she could take much more.

Lucius was flanked by four other Deatheaters, all male and very tough-looking. They seemed to be there just to give him (im)moral support (not that he needed it), and possibly in case Draco brought reinforcements. He suddenly wished he had (not that he hadn't tried, to his credit), but there was nothing to be done about it at this point.

"Kill me, Lucius," Ginny said weakly, but with more contempt in her voice then Draco had ever heard there. "I'm not telling you anything." She spat in his face. Draco felt an overwhelming surge of love for her. He wanted to hold her tight, heal her wounds, curl up in her embrace forever.

"Crucio!" The moment Draco saw Ginny's face contorted in pain, tears running down her cheeks as her wounds reopened, he couldn't take it anymore. Blasting the window beneath him with his wand, he fell to the floor of the chamber and turned his wand on his own father before the Deatheaters had time to react.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

**A/N: Oooh, the first real cliffhanger of this story! Did Draco's curse meet its mark? Can he take on four Deatheaters? Is Ginny going to be okay? It was a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but so are all my chapters. Now, because I'm evil, I think I'll wait for a little encouragement before I post the next chapter. That means REVIEW!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Another long A/N: **

**Thank you for reviewing, everyone! I should use cliffies more often… **

**Anyway, some of you might have noticed that I changed the name of this fic. **

**You see, after I made the fic I searched "Façade" and discovered that there are about 10 other Harry Potter fanfics with Façade in the title, some of which were also just "The Façade". I had a lot of difficulty naming this fic from the beginning- I didn't just call it "Le Tuteur Clairvoyant" because at that point I knew the concept but had not yet figured out what I was going to call Ginny and Draco's connection. You all know that this is my first fic, and I only just figured out that it's possible to change the title after the fact. **

**I did leave "The Façade" as part of the title, so if anyone had been linking to it from the search then it would still come up. So that's my long story about the title.**

**Now, on to the dire situation in which we last left our two protagonists.**

The Façade: Chapter 12

(A/N: I believe this warrants a flashback) Last time:

"_Crucio!" The moment Draco saw Ginny's face contorted in pain, tears running down her cheeks as her wounds reopened, he couldn't take it anymore. Blasting the window beneath him with his wand, he fell to the floor of the chamber and turned his wand on his own father before the Deatheaters had time to react._

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A jet of bright green light shot out of Draco's hawthorn wand. His aim was true. There was a moment during which Lucius stared at Draco with his hard, grey eyes, before they glazed over and he crumpled to the ground as if in slow motion. Draco's wand arm shook as the shock of what he had done hit him like a tidal wave. Ginny was absolutely still, unable to do anything but look at the man who had killed his own father for her.

A droplet of Ginny's blood dripped off the trail running down her foot from her ankle. It made a tiny plink in the silence as it fell into the small pool that was already there.

The spell (A/N: No pun intended, of course) was broken. Draco came back to his senses, yelling "Stupefy!" and pointing his wand at one of the Deatheaters. That one fell to the ground immediately, but Draco could not take on the three others all at once.

"Crucio!" one of them yelled.

Ginny tried to resist a fresh torrent of tears as her vision played out in front of her, Draco writhing on the ground as she watched, helpless, strapped to the wall.

---

Draco was now strapped at Ginny's side, also in quite a bad state. The Deatheater he had knocked out was up again now, and two of them were watching Ginny and Draco, wands steadily trained on them (not that they could have done anything). The other two were conversing in low whispers, presumably about what to do with them. Their ringleader was dead on the floor, and they weren't quite sure what they should be doing.

_Draco, I love you. I always will._

_Gin, we're going to make it out of here. _He was aware that both of them knew it wasn't likely. _I love you too._

Suddenly, the Deatheater with his wand pointed at Ginny collapsed. As the other three looked around, confused, for the source of the nonverbal spell, the one guarding Draco also fell to the ground. At this point, the Deatheaters had located the corner of the room that the spells had come from, and Harry whipped the invisibility cloak off of himself, Ron, and Hermione. It was three wizards against two, with the element of surprise still somewhat on the teenagers' side, and it was a matter of minutes before all four Deatheaters were unconscious, bound and gagged.

"I found this on the floor on our way back to Hogwarts." Harry held up the forced note from Ginny. Draco must have dropped it in his panic earlier. Ron began undoing the leather straps at Draco's wrists. Harry had already gotten Ginny almost untied.

Hermione was looking at Lucius' body, trying to tell if he was breathing without having to get too close. When she had decided that he was definitely dead, she turned to Draco, who was now untied.

"Who—"

"Me." Draco answered.

"Oh." Hermione didn't know what to say, so she just didn't say anything. Then she noticed Draco pressing his thumb over a gash on his arm to stop the bleeding.

"Let me help you with that." Hermione walked over to Draco, beginning to heal his wounds with her wand. Draco smiled at her. He understood this as a peace offering- seeing what he had done for Ginny had finally convinced Hermione that he could really, truly be trusted.

Ginny was barely awake, lying in Harry's lap as he healed her wounds.

They sat quietly like this for a long while, contemplating what had happened. None of them realized when one of the Deatheaters slowly regained consciousness and maneuvered himself like a snake to press his index finger to his unconscious companion's Dark Mark.

**A/N: HA! Another cliffy! I didn't honestly mean to do that, I just got the idea and absolutely had too. Looks like I'll be needing some more motivation! REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I love waking up to a bunch of reviews. However, this fic is almost over )-: **

**I can't believe I wrote all this in a week!**

**I am going to post the epilogue separately, because I feel that it deserves it, but I will post it at the same time because I'll get lots of flames if I don't. **

**I'll probably get flames anyway, but still. **

**Enjoy! (while it lasts) **

The Façade: Chapter 13 (hehe, it's unlucky… not that I'm hinting about anything…)

Last Time:

_They sat quietly like this for a long while, contemplating what had happened. None of them realized when one of the Deatheaters slowly regained consciousness and maneuvered himself like a snake to press his index finger to his unconscious companion's Dark Mark._

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Suddenly, they heard yells from outside the manor. Hermione quickly put up magical barriers around the room, and conjured a two-way mirror to place against the space where the ceiling window had been. They crowded around the mirror, looking outside.

The sight that met their eyes was the last thing they expected to see. Voldemort himself, along with dozens of Deatheaters, were outside, but what was even more shocking was that so were most of the order and a few of the overage members of Dumbledore's Army. It looked like a battle had already been in progress, and had been moved to Malfoy Manor. It was in full swing, and for the time being no one seemed to be paying attention to their hiding place in the dungeons. Suddenly, they heard a unified shout of "Sectumsempera!" from at least six of the Deatheaters. Someone was blasted off their feet, falling into a heap at the bottom of the manor's outside wall as blood gushed from magical gashes. Craning his neck, Harry gasped when he saw Dumbledore's unmistakable silver beard stained with blood.

(A/N: Ahhh! Yes, I'm killing him off. On the upside, I kept him alive for about four more months than JK did)

Harry pulled on the invisibility cloak and apparated to Dumbledore's side.

"Proffessor Dumbledore! What's the countercurse?" he begged desperately.

"It is too late, Harry," Dumbledore responded weakly, "But Harry?"

"What is it?" Harry replied, a pained expression on his face.

"Now is as good a time as any." Dumbledore said, and his eyes drooped closed.

(This "---" represents the battle that I really wouldn't do a good job of writing. If someone wants to write it as an appendix to the story, I'll put a passage in here telling people to go read it.)

---

An hour later, it was all over.

The Deatheaters who hadn't escaped were being transported in magical bindings to the Ministry of Magic.

The wounded were being transported to St. Mungo's or tended to on one side of the lawn.

The dead were being counted and recorded, their families notified.

Voldemort was gone.

So was Draco.

Ginny had seen him die, a premonition moments before it happened. She ran across the lawn to find him and stop it, but she couldn't make it in time. He sent Ginny a message in his last moment of life. Just_ I love you Gin_, and she had known that he was gone.

Draco was a real hero- he had helped Harry finally defeat Voldemort.

Ron had saved Hermione from a lethal curse, and Harry was pretty sure that they were finally a couple (not to mention that Ron got a little of the glory he had always craved).

Now, however, the mood was quite dismal. All around, families and couples stood in shock, clutching to their remaining loved ones. Ron held Hermione in his arms as they surveyed the destruction, silent tears running down his face. Charlie Weasley was dead. Ginny sobbed into Harry's shoulder as a mediwizard bandaged his broken wrist.

---

Draco's funeral was attended by very few people whom he might've expected to see there. The entire order was there (or what was left of it), and obviously Narcissa Malfoy, but not a single Slytherin student from Hogwarts bothered to go. In contrast, most of the DA attended, and every last seventh year Gryffindor.

Ginny just sobbed in Harry's arms the whole way through. When Narcissa threw the first handful of dirt over her son's coffin, Ginny had collapsed onto the floor, shaking, and Harry had almost held her for the rest of the funeral.

The next day, she found out she was pregnant.

Draco Weasley… That's a name nobody thought they'd ever hear.

**A/N: Ahhh don't flame! At least read the epilogue first (-:**

**Note: To dispel any confusion (the possibility of which I was alerted to by one of my lovely reviewers): The spell didn't malfunction or anything- Ginny and Draco have had sex more than once, and Ginny must have forgotten at some point. After all, it's been more than two months since the first time.**

**p.s. I have nothing against Charlie Weasley- I just felt like one of them had to die to up the sorrow factor in general (because not that many people cared for Draco) and I did it by process of elimination: I like the twins, so they stay, Percy wouldn't be sad enough because nobody really likes him anyways, and between Bill and Charlie… Bill has an earring, so he stays. **

**Enough of my rambling now. Go read the epilogue.**


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: This was so much fun. I think I'm going to have to start another one eventually, now that I'm addicted. But don't hold your breath, because I go back to school tomorrow and probably won't get around to it for a while. (Or maybe I'll start one and let my grades drop significantly. Who knows?)**

**So, finally, I give you:**

The Façade: Epilogue

_Draco Weasley… That's a name nobody thought they'd ever hear._

Christmas, 3 ½ Years Later

Draco Weasley-Potter… now that's a name they REALLY thought they'd never hear.

Little Draco, with flaming red hair and his father's piercing grey eyes, giggled as he reached out to touch one of the glitter-drenched ornaments on the Weasleys' Christmas tree. The green one, of course- his favorite color.

"Don't touch, Draco!" Narcissa called from the couch.

Harry had legally adopted him as of this morning, not that it made any difference in his two-and-a-half-year-old mind. Harry had practically been his father since he was born, and had been married to his mother for six months now.

The recovery process had been long and hard for Ginny. It hadn't helped that she had been pregnant, at sixteen, with the child of her deceased love. Of course, despite the daunting prospect of being a single mother at such a young age, getting rid of the baby hadn't been an option. He was all Ginny had left of the older Draco, and all he had to leave in the world.

Harry, whose arms she was wrapped in now, had helped so much. At first, he had been there like he always had, as a very close friend. Ginny thought it was the moment he had held baby Draco (before even Ginny held him, after having been with her through the whole delivery holding her hand and whispering encouraging words), and looked with real love into the eyes of the baby the woman he loved had with another man, when she realized that she could love again. That she could love _him_ again.

They did it backwards, definitely. Ginny had fallen in love with Harry _after_ he had begun acting as a father to her child. He had been young too, not even nineteen yet, a career ahead of him, yet he had sacrificed everything to be there for her.

Ginny hadn't really been a single mother after all.

It didn't bother Harry that Ginny had had this child with another man. After all, that man had been his friend for much shorter of a time than he rightfully should have before he was taken from them all. He saw the older Draco in his son the way Sirius had seen James in him.

This Christmas was the happiest one in a long time. The family was bigger than ever before- Hermione and Ron had been married for a little less than a year, and Hermione was expecting her first child. The Grangers, of course, were there with her. Narcissa's grandson was all she had left, so it was natural for her to be there. It sounds cheesy, but she was no longer such an ice queen now that she had a real family.

The losses of loved ones in the final battle had dulled to an ache, no longer the raw burn that it had once been.

Mrs. Weasley called everyone into the dining room for dinner. Harry disentangled himself from his wife and scooped up the boy he called his son. He smiled to himself as he felt the fine-quality silk of the two-year-old's tie, purchased for him by his grandmother.

Heir to the Potter _and _Malfoy fortunes… Harry hoped he wouldn't be snobbish.

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**Review and tell me what you think, even if that means flames for killing off Draco.**

**Yes, I had this planned from the beginning. I'm sure some of you picked up on the hints. Originally, Draco was going to survive and it would be a rather messy breakup involving commitmentophobia, but I decided that it wasn't fair or true to Draco's character. I still wanted her to end up with Harry, though, so the only logical option was to kill Draco. **

**Thank you to all those who have stuck with me and reviewed throughout the story. I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

**With Love, Azrulai.**


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